The present invention relates generally to protective barriers, such as gloves and clothing, used by health care providers and others exposed to hazardous liquids. More specifically, the invention relates to an improved personal protective barrier system for warning a worker when a failure of a protective barrier occurs or is imminent.
The possibility of contact between workers and hazardous liquids is a widespread problem. In the health care industry, for example, contact between a health care provider and a patient presents the possibility of transmission of liquid-borne pathogens from the patient to the worker and vice versa. To prevent such contact with hazardous liquids, health care workers commonly wear protective barriers such as protective clothing, gloves, masks, etc.
Latex gloves are commonly used as protective barriers in the health care industry. In use, the protective barrier provided by such gloves frequently fails to perforation or tearing. In addition, when exposed to liquid, such gloves eventually become saturated with the liquid, thereby providing a path along which pathogens can be communicated from the worker to the patient and vice versa. Unfortunately, a failure of the protective barrier due to liquid saturation is not discernable by the worker.
It is known that the electrical resistance of a latex glove decreases as it becomes saturated with liquid, the resistance of the glove being inversely proportional to the degree of saturation. Thus, the glove's efficacy as a protective barrier may be tested using electrical means.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,321,925 (Hoborn) discloses a device which is electrically connected to a patient and to a health care provider, i.e., a doctor. When the electrical resistance between the doctor and patient decreases below a predetermined value, indicating a failure of a protective barrier between the doctor and patient, an alarm is sounded.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,956,635 (Langdon) discloses an improvement to the Hoborn device. In addition to providing an alarm when the electrical resistance between the health care provider and patient decreases below a predetermined value, the Langdon device provides a visual status signal for verifying that the provider is electrically connected to the device. To ensure that the device will sound an alarm when the protective barrier fails, the provider must monitor the visual status signal frequently. Unfortunately, the provider, intent on his or her work, may fail to monitor the visual status signal adequately and, thus, be unaware that the device is not functioning due to loss of electrical contact with provider. In addition, electrical power for the device is supplied by a battery, and the device provides no indication of the battery's state of charge. Should the battery become discharged while the device is being used, the provider will be unaware that the device will not function.